Profiles is an ongoing series, seeking to create spaces of affinity, where similarly identified folks have a space to talk about the perceptions, nuances and actualities of their identity.

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QUEER AFFINITY

The word "queer" is not new. However, its meaning is. For many years, the word was used as a derogatory slur for people who deviated from the traditional sexual norm and therefore, were labelled as "weird," "peculiar" and "different," with strongly negative connotations. As our society's acceptance and recognition of the LGBTQ+ community grows, the stories and experiences of young people struggling to carve out an identity for themselves are left feeling alone-- in conversation, they learn they are not.

Being queer means I am attracted to other girls and women. I remember in fifth grade, we were reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond, as a class, and they used the word “queer” for its original meaning, as weird and my teacher asked whoever was reading it aloud to not say it…because it was used as a slur. So the word queer transitioned from meaning weird or different to pertaining to LGBTQ people in a negative way and reclaimed by some as positive umbrella term for all LGBTQ identified people.

— Tess Waxman

I think queer can also extend to things that are not sexuality, like personality wise, people who don’t always fit in to what’s popular or what’s in the norm… [Therefore, I have] been queer my whole life. A lot of people believe bisexual people are very promiscuous. And because we are attracted to more than one gender, we are attracted to all people who exist and that’s just false. And that bisexual women are going through some sort of phase and its not real and I will fall in love with some lovely man, and that might happen and it might not happen.

— Quiandra Watson

I self-identify as queer. But I am not sure how I feel about other people outside of the community, calling me that because it is a slur that has been reclaimed, but not by everyone. So I won’t call someone else queer unless I have heard them call themselves that.

Growing up I had so many examples of queer people— my neighbor across the street, my mom’s friends. It was never something that I was conscious of as being different. The first time I started questioning my sexuality was in 7th or 8th grade and I was 13. Looking back, when I was younger I definitely see times that resemble how I feel now and I was just never conscious of it. 